A new poll has found almost two-third of parents believe that children returning to school in the fall should wear masks at least part of the time.
The latest poll on the COVID-19 pandemic by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies found that 41 per cent of respondents believe school children should be required to wear a mask while they're on the bus or in the school.
A further 21 per cent said yes to masks, but only when a student is outside of class during recess, lunch or if on the bus _ suggesting they were OK with students taking off their masks once in class and not in common areas.
There was also a group of respondents, accounting for 28 per cent, who believed masks should be optional.
The current public health advice is that non-medical masks can contain infectious particles on their wearers' breath, reducing the risk of contagion from people with COVID-19 who might not know they're carrying the illness.
The Leger online poll of 1,524 Canadians over age 18 took place July 17 to 19.
School boards in Ontario have until August 4th to submit their back to school plans.